Don Cheadle is enjoying a career high as Paul Rusesabagina (right), a hotel manager-turned-hero during the 1994 Rwandan genocide in Hotel Rwanda.

The hard truth behind the political drama Hotel Rwanda and veteran actor Don Cheadle's career highlight performance is this: The part was first offered to Denzel Washington and Will Smith. The part went to Cheadle only after they refused. Cheadle holds command throughout the film as Paul Rusesabagina the hotel manager who saved 1,268 people from the Rwandan genocide in 1994 by housing them in his hotel.

In hindsight, Hotel Rwanda filmmaker Terry George accepts that the casting could not have turned out better.

"He (Cheadle) is a chameleon," he says. "He's amazing in every scene." George wanted to celebrate Rusesabagina's heroism, where he saved over 1,000 people from murder, and that's where Cheadle's likeability came into play.

Cheadle is a Golden Globe Best Actor nominee for his work in Hotel Rwanda and the film has earned a Best Drama nomination.

Cheadle returned recently as Cockney explosives expert Basher, part of the ensemble for the caper film Ocean's Twelve, the sequel to Ocean's Eleven. He recently appeared opposite Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson in the crime film, After the Sunset. He currently stars opposite Sean Penn in the edgy drama The Assassination of Richard Nixon, but his spotlight movie moment belongs to his lead role in the acclaimed Hotel Rwanda.

The film focuses on the 1994 genocide, paying less attention to the Hutu-Tutsi tensions and its roots in Belgian colonialism (19th-century Belgians picked the taller Tutsis to rule over the Hutus). The story of the Rwandan genocide should be better known, especially for happening 10 years ago, and Cheadle hopes the movie will change that.

"It's like how we portray the Western news coverage of the genocide in the movie," Cheadle says. "People in America will watch this horrifying footage on the evening news and then return to their dinners, to their lives."

Considering all the focus on U.S. involvement (or lack thereof) on trouble spots like Sudan, the story of Western indifference to the 1994 Rwandan genocide continues to be timely and important. Cheadle is convinced that a film like Hotel Rwanda will make a difference and pay respect to the efforts of Rusesabagina.

It's part of Cheadle's job to sit in the bar of a Toronto hotel and promote Hotel Rwanda midway into the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. But he accepts the task without complaint because he's working hard on behalf of a significant film. He's also found it to be a career moment for himself.

Cheadle e-mailed Rusesabagina in Belgium and met him in Africa to prepare for the role. Yet it's Hollywood politics that dominate our afternoon conversation.

"Nobody lied to me," he says. "I was told upfront that they were waiting for Denzel or Will to approve it, and I was fine with that. It was a good story and a good script, and I wanted the chance."

Asked if he agrees that Hollywood practices a quota for black actors, Cheadle answers with a matter-of-fact "yes." He is the proof, that fourth black actor battling Jamie Foxx for a shot at leading man status. Cheadle insists that good scripts offered to him are few and far between, although he remains one of the busiest character actors around. Relaxed on a large leather chair, Cheadle says he's as committed as ever to joining Denzel and Will as A-list black actors who can choose from any number of projects. He's watched how the funding game almost cost him Hotel Rwanda, and he's hoping it won't happen again.

"I want to be choosy," he says matter-of-factly. "I want to create projects."

Cheadle's chiseled face and lean build are familiar to moviegoers thanks to constant work. He was a DEA agent in Traffic and a porn star in Boogie Nights. He played Sammy Davis Jr. in the cable TV movie, The Rat Pack, and his limelight movie role until now was the likable criminal Mouse, opposite Denzel Washington in the adaptation of Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress. The highlight of his acting career is his stage performance as the younger brother in the Pulitzer Prize winning Top Dog/Underdog.

Cheadle, 40, is a soccer dad living a comfortable family life with his two daughters and his wife, Bridgid Coulter (his co-star in Rosewood), not very different from his own upper-middleclass childhood in Kansas City and Denver.

Of all the political movie dramas, Hotel Rwanda is the most successful at attracting audiences and Cheadle deserves much of the credit.

Looking ahead, there is no limit to the projects Cheadle can discuss. He produced and starred in the ensemble drama Crash, with Sandra Bullock and Matt Dillon. Later this year, he is directing Tishomingo Blues, based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, and is working on a screenplay with Steven Soderbergh.

The cliché is true: Don Cheadle is on an impressive roll, and it couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy. ©